Life's now a ball for Leon Azzopardi after he was successfully treated for a rare blood disease.

Putting on his Manchester United baseball cap, Leon Azzopardi grabbed the gleaming red football and was just dashing out to play, before his mother stopped him and made him change his Crocs.

The 11-year-old pulled a face, but slipped on his trainers and bounced down the stairs with his younger brother Nathan, as Diane Azzoppardi looked on with a smile that unlocked her happiness.

Ms Azzopardi has kept her emotions suppressed for nearly eight years, refusing to believe her firstborn would never be able to run and play like other children his age.

"Leon is now a normal boy," she said, her voice nearly singing with delight.

Ms Azzopardi and her husband Charlie have just returned from the UK where they spent a roller-coaster year watching helplessly as Leon first struggled to survive and then successfully received a bone marrow transplant to treat a rare blood disorder.

Their son was just one of 240 Maltese patients who received treatment in the UK, according to figures compiled by the Malta High Commission in London for the first four months of this year.

Maltese who require specialised treatment not available on the island travel to the UK thanks to a long-standing agreement between the two countries. At the moment 24 patients are recovering in 12 UK hospitals, Health Minister Joe Cassar said on Friday in reply to a parliamentary question.

The number of patients receiving treatment in the UK has risen in recent years. Figures obtained by The Sunday Times show that in 2008, 279 patients flew to the UK - 424 times between them - while last year 296 patients travelled on 477 occasions.

Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said Malta's High Commission worked tirelessly to help the hundreds of patients who required treatment in British hospitals.

The High Commission helps these people and their families by fixing appointments, providing transport and interpreters, monitoring follow-ups and taking care of all the logistics, to alleviate the burden.

The Azzopardis are among those who are eternally grateful to the help they received from the High Commission's staff in the past year, especially when it came to shuttling them to and from Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Clearing up the leftovers from the previous night's surprise party to celebrate Leon's full recovery, Ms Azzopardi is still trying to digest the good news that eight years of heartache, worry and uncertainty are actually over.

It all started in 2001, when she stopped feeding her 15-month-old son breast milk and switched to formula, and he developed a nasty rash. Nine months and several tests later, the boy was put in isolation as doctors worked to establish why Leon's platelets were low.

"The doctors said the boy was unique from the inside and out. They couldn't fathom how he was jumping up and down on the bed and was so full of energy when, according to their tests, he should have been feeling weak," she recalled.

Feeling scared and alone, the couple waited in the hope of some outcome, but the doctors recommended Leon underwent more tests in the UK. He was diagnosed with a rare blood disease British doctors believed would clear within three to four years with the right therapy.

They returned to Malta and the boy started receiving treatment. British and Maltese doctors kept in contact through regular summaries, as Leon attempted to go to school and be like the rest of his friends.

However, the steroids he was taking every day bloated him and he could not play with his friends on the school grounds because if he fell there was a risk of haemorrhage.

"He was just existing, poor boy," Mr Azzopardi said.

As he grew older, Leon's condition deteriorated and it did not look like the boy was going to get out of it. To make matters worse, the doctor caring for him seemed to fail to understand the parents' distress, and dismissed their pleas to contact his counterpart in the UK about their son.

Eventually, in 2008, when Leon was rapidly losing weight without any explanation and constantly falling ill and generally wasting away, his parents "forced" the Maltese doctor to write to Great Ormond requesting an appointment.

On September 4, 2008, just as the Azzopardis walked into the British hospital, Leon collapsed - he had multi-organ failure, liver derangement and his heart stopped.

"Doctors gave him seven minutes of CPR and told us to expect the worst. They didn't think he would make it," Mrs Azzopardi said.

It turned out Leon should have been receiving different treatment, and the Azzopardis are still angry at the way this particular doctor treated them. But then they stop to think about the love and support they received in the past year as they waited for a bone marrow donor to come forward, and their spirits lift.

"The staff at Great Ormond Street are unbelievably dedicated, and we got a lot of support from the High Commission, the Malta Community Chest Fund and the Puttinu Cares Foundation," Mr Azzopardi said.

Leon's transplant operation was 100 per cent successful and he can start living his life again. He has plenty of catching up to do, but in the meantime his attention is focused on a red sea of Manchester United merchandise, all gifts he received during the surprise party.

"I used to side with Milan, but I switched to Manchester United and now side with England because Great Ormond Street gave me a new life," Leon said.